Method and arrangement for providing content to multimedia devices

ABSTRACT

Arrangement and method for providing content to multimedia devices, in particular mobile multimedia devices, wherein a content portal provides content to the devices in a form requiring a rights object to enable use thereof, a rights object portal provides rights objects to the devices and advertisements which are associated with the rights objects are also provided. Upon receipt of the rights object with an associated advertisement, the user is exposed to the advertisement in conjunction with use of the content.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/926,006 filed Apr. 24, 2007 and UK PatentApplication GB0710853.3 filed Jun. 6, 2007, the entire disclosure ofeach of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a method and arrangement forproviding content to multimedia devices, in particular mobile multimediadevices. Content as used herein may be music files, video files, musicvideo files, movies, albums, streaming music, steaming video, videogames, applications, pictures, documents, text, figures, ring tones,wall paper, web pages, audio files, information, news, weatherinformation, digital books, audio books, video clips and the like.

The present invention also relates generally to a method and arrangementfor arranging sponsorship of delivery of content to users of multimediadevices and in particular to users of mobile multimedia devices.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Current mobile multimedia devices are typically capable of receivingmulti-media content, such as audio and video content, via acommunications network which enables the user to listen to and/or viewthe received content depending on its form. For example, reception andusage of music files is a highly popular feature which is available forvarious types of portable mobile devices including the Apple iPod® andother brands of MP3 players, Nokia's N93 smart phone, SonyEricksson'swalkman phone and laptop computers. Moreover, fixed multimedia deviceshaving a connection to a communications network are also typicallycapable of receiving audio and video content which enable a user tolisten to and/or view such content.

In addition to enabling reception and usage of music files, many mobilemultimedia devices are also capable of receiving video and televisionfiles and display the video and television content of such files on ascreen thereof.

When using mobile devices, the content is typically delivered to eachmobile device using communication networks. Alternatively, the contentcan be delivered to mobile devices via a personal computer or otherdevice having a connection to the communications network when the mobiledevices are connected or linked to the personal computer or otherdevice, or the content can be preloaded into the mobile terminal'smemory or can be delivered to the mobile terminal via physical meanssuch as memory cards.

The users of the mobile devices often receive the content, in whateverform, for free. At times however, the users must pay for the content.Typically, when a user pays for the content, there is some kind ofDigital Rights Management (DRM) arrangement which protects the rights ofthe copyright owner of the content. In a typical DRM arrangement, thecontent is protected and delivered as an encrypted package to the user'smobile device. Rights Object (RO) keys are typically deliveredseparately to the user's mobile device which allow usage of the contentbased on business rules set in the RO. Additional details about DRMarrangements and RO keys can be found in various trade specifications,such as one designated Open Mobile AllianceOMA-AD-DRM-V2_(—)0-20050908-C, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

When users are able to receive the content for free, there are usuallyadvertisements associated with the content. For example, broadcasttelevision and radio networks provide content to users for free andinclude periodic advertisements.

Another technique to include advertisements when delivering content tousers is a concept referred to as mobile marketing and advertising.

At present, mobile marketing and advertising is mostly based on pushcampaigns to opt-in a consumer mobile number in a database, or pullcampaigns that acquire mobile phone numbers from consumers. The mosttypical example of the pull campaign is the “text-to-win” campaignwhere, e.g., a soft drink bottle contains a short code to be sent viatext message to a certain telephone number. In return, the consumerreceives a notification if they have won with the selected marketingmessage, or a series of messages is broadcast to their mobile phone.Other popular methods of direct advertisement are achieved using textand video messaging.

Regardless of the manner in which an advertisement is delivered to auser of a mobile device, there is always the issue of the delivery cost.The primary components of the delivery cost are the telecommunicationtransport cost and the cost of the content. Often, an entity might bewilling to sponsor the advertisements but the value of the sponsorshipis not sufficient to fully cover both the transport cost and the costfor the content.

In view of issues relating to effective mobile marketing andadvertising, such as sponsorship issues, advertisers concentrate theiradvertising campaigns on media which offers a sufficient number of “eyeballs” with a single advertisement campaign, e.g., broadcast television.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed at least in part to a method andarrangement for coordinating sponsorship of content delivered to users,and particularly to the users' mobile multimedia devices. Specifically,content used at different times can be associated with differentadvertisements so that the cost for sponsoring the same content can bedistributed or shared by several advertisers. This is particularlybeneficial if the delivery cost of the content, i.e., the transport costand content cost, is so high such that no single advertiser is willingto sponsor the content for all users. However, it is possible that thecost for sponsoring the same content can be borne by a single advertiseror by a number of advertisers having different advertisements and thusmultiple advertising campaigns.

In one embodiment, each time the content is accessed or used by theuser, a different advertisement is provided. Thus, in the case of amusic file, the user would hear different advertisements from differentsponsors, or possibly even the same sponsor, every time (or at some ofthe times) the music is listened to on the mobile multimedia device. Thedelivery cost for the content, both its transport and content cost, istherefore obtained or recouped over time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, together with further advantages thereof, may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals identify like elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an exemplifying architecture of anadvertisement sponsorship arrangement in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the manner in which communications flow using theadvertisement sponsorship arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the sponsorship arrangement in accordance withthe invention from the perspective of a user.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flow charts of the manner in which advertisements areselected for association with a rights object in accordance with theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an exemplifying mobile terminal for usein the invention.

FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C are flow charts showing techniques for superdistribution of content, rights objects and/or associated advertisementsin accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein the same referencenumerals refer to the same or similar elements, FIG. 1 is a schematic ofan advertising sponsorship arrangement in accordance with someembodiments of the invention, designated generally as 10. In thearrangement 10, an advertiser 12 provides advertisements to anadvertisement system 14 relating to its products and/or services to bedirected to users of a mobile terminal (MT) 16. The advertisement system14 is arranged to manage advertisement campaigns, and maintain databasescontaining user profiles such as sex, age, preferences, historyinformation, demographics etc. These databases can be stored in acomputer memory associated with or integral with the advertisementsystem 14 and accessed via computer programs.

Advertisement system 14 is capable of directing the advertisementcampaigns to one or more MTs 16 using one or more communicationsnetworks 18. The communications network 18 used in embodiments of theinvention may be any network which enables delivery of data. Examples ofpossible communications networks include, but are not limited to, asecond Generation (2G) network utilizing Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), a 2.5 Generation network, a third Generation (3G)network utilizing GSM, Wideband Code Division Multiplex Access (WCDMA),Code Division Multiplex Access (CDMA), or Time Division Multiplex Access(TDMA), a network using Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), a broadcastnetwork such as Digital Video Broadcasting for Handheld (DVB-H), abroadcast-over-cellular network, fixed or wireless Internet connections,WiMax or other access technologies. Communications network 18 may be acombination of several types of the above networks, for example, oneincluding WLAN and GPRS connectivity.

Communications network 18 is used to deliver content from a contentissue server or portal or content portal 20 to at least one MT 16. Thecontent is associated with a rights object (RO) which is delivered toeach MT 16 via a rights object issuer server or rights object portal 22.The RO may be delivered together with or in the context ofadvertisements delivered from the advertisement system 14.

Optionally, arrangement 10 includes a billing system 24 coupled to theadvertisement system 14 and/or the communications network 18 and may bearranged to meter usage of the communications network 18 by each MT 16and meter usage and payments of or for the content being delivered toeach MT 16. The billing system 24 or other suitable means associatedwith the advertising arrangement 10 can thus arrange for payment fromusers of the MTs 16 based on their usage of the communications network18 and their delivered content. The billing system 24 can be also usedto arrange billing of the advertisers for content, advertisement and/orDRM object delivery and content costs.

The invention preferably uses a DRM arrangement in which the contentmay, as is customary, be packaged before delivery to protect it fromunauthorized access. The content portal 20 delivers the DRM content, andthe rights object portal 22 generates an RO. An RO governs how the DRMcontent may be used and is often an XML document specifying permissionsand constraints associated with a piece of DRM content. DRM contentcannot be used without an associated RO, and may only be used accordingto the permissions and constraints specified in the RO.

The content portal 20 and rights object portal 22 may embody differentroles in the arrangement and method in accordance with the invention.Depending on the implementation, they may be provided by the same ordifferent entities, and implemented by the same or different networknodes. For example, in one implementation, content owners maypre-package DRM content, which is then distributed by a contentdistributor acting as both the content issuer and the rights objectissuer.

Open Mobile Alliance DRM enables a separation of DRM content from an RO.DRM content and Rights Objects may be requested separately or together,and they may be delivered separately or at the same time. For example, auser can select a piece of content, pay for it, and receive DRM contentand an RO in the same transaction. Later, if the RO expires, the usercan go back and acquire a new RO, without having to download the DRMcontent again.

FIG. 2 shows one possible flow of communications using arrangement 10.Initially, a user or owner of the mobile terminal MT 16 accesses thecontent portal 20, finds content they want to receive and initializes adownload of that content from the content portal 20. This download isachieved via a communications infrastructure such as a communicationsnetwork 18 using cellular connectivity. A mobile marketing server 26,operated or managed by or on behalf of the advertiser or group ofadvertisers 12, is informed about the requested download via thecommunications network 18 when the download is determined to besponsored. Mobile marketing server 26 may constitute part of theadvertising system 14 shown in FIG. 1

Determination of whether the content sought to be downloaded issponsored may be made by a computer program resident at the contentportal 20 or elsewhere, such as at the user's MT 16. Such a computerprogram may be designed to interface with the user of the MT 16 and thecontent portal 20, and generate a variable output depending on itsdetermination of whether the requested content is sponsored. If thecontent is not sponsored, the computer program can be designed toprovide the requested content, e.g., free to the user or based onsatisfaction of certain conditions such as payment from the user. If thecontent is determined to be sponsored, then the mobile marketing server26, or other computer operated or managed by the advertiser 12 or anentity which manages advertisements for advertisers, is notified of theneed to sponsor the requested content and the possibility of inclusionof an advertisement with an RO which governs use of that content.

As shown in FIG. 2, the content is regulated by a DRM so that eventhough the user has received the requested download of content from thecontent portal 20 at their MT 16, they are unable to use it without aRO. Thus, the rights object portal 22 must also be contacted via thecommunications network 18 when the user initiates a download of theselected content. In the exemplifying embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a newRO is needed from the rights object portal 22 every time the content isused by the user. Each time the user acquires rights from the rightsobject portal 22, the rights object portal 22 communicates with themobile marketing server 26, or another entity or server which regulatesdelivery of RO's for the content downloaded by the user, to verify if itis permissible to deliver the RO. Alternatively, the mobile marketingserver 26 can provide permission to the rights objects portal 22 todeliver several, i.e., a predetermined or agreed amount, RO's instead ofasking for permission every time. When it is determined by a computerprogram in the rights object portal 22 and/or mobile marketing server 26that it is permissible, delivery of the RO from the rights object portal22 to the user's MT 16 can follow an advertisement obtained from themobile marketing server 26 or alternatively, the RO can actually beincluded in the advertisement. Other ways to associate an advertisementwith an RO are also envisioned. This procedure to associate anadvertisement, obtained from the mobile marketing server 26, with an ROprovided by the rights object portal 20, is repeated every time the samecontent, which has previously been downloaded by the user, is used.

In an alternative embodiment, the mobile marketing server 26 acquiresone or more RO's from the rights object portal 22 for the downloadedcontent and delivers an RO with an associated advertisement to the userwhen needed, i.e., every time the user wants to use the downloadedcontent. Thus, RO's are stored on the mobile marketing server 26 andprovided therefrom to the user's MT 16.

In an alternative embodiment, the RO can be configured so that it givesthe user several usage times for the same content or can be configuredin such a way that the RO is valid for a specific time period. Afterthis time period or given number or content usages, the user will need anew RO which is then acquired from the rights objects portal 22 via themobile marketing server 26.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the manner in which a user accesses oruses content in an arrangement and method in accordance with someembodiments of the invention. At 28, content is delivered to the user'smobile terminal, e.g., downloaded in any of the ways described herein.Whenever the user wants to access or use the delivered content in theirmobile terminal, at 30, the process of acquiring rights is started. Acomputer program, which may be resident in the mobile terminal, checksif an RO for the content is available and/or valid or whether a new ROis needed, at 32. If a new RO is needed, the computer program isarranged to initiate a procedure to acquire the RO, at 34, to enable theuser to use the content.

As noted above, an advertisement is associated with the RO, i.e., eitherincluded in the advertisement or preceding the RO in the transmission tothe user's mobile terminal. At 36, this associated advertisement isdisplayed to the user, for example on a screen of their mobile terminal,or otherwise provided to the user, e.g., if the advertisement is asound-based advertisement then it would be vocalized through a speakeror headphones on the user's mobile terminal. After the advertisement isdisplayed, the content is displayed or otherwise made available for useby the user at 38.

At 40, a database is updated to note which advertisement was associatedwith the content. This database may be resident in the user's mobileterminal or elsewhere, such as at the rights object portal, theadvertising system or the mobile marketing server.

In one embodiment, there may be several RO's stored in the user's mobileterminal and several advertisements in the mobile terminal which havebeen downloaded prior to the user's request to use downloaded content.In one embodiment, the RO's and advertisements can be downloaded in thebackground when downloading and/or viewing the content. As such, whenthe user seeks to use content, an RO and associated advertisement arereadily available to the user without requiring use of thecommunications network to obtain an RO. This avoids the need for theuser to receive an RO from the rights object portal and an advertisementfrom the mobile marketing server each and every time that they want touse downloaded content. As such, it avoids problems with transmissiondelays when accessing the rights object portal and the mobile marketingserver.

In an exemplifying embodiment of the invention, an RO can be created bythe rights object portal and delivered to the user's mobile terminalwhich allows usage of the content for several times with the same RO.The advertisement associated with such an RO can be the same or can bevaried every time the content is used. This eliminates transmissiondelays when accessing the rights object portal to obtain a new RO.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flow charts showing processes for selectingadvertisements to be associated with RO's in accordance with someembodiments of the invention. These processes may be implemented by acomputer program resident in the advertisement system 14 shown in FIG. 1or the mobile marketing server 26 shown in FIG. 2. Generally, anadvertisement is selected based on business rules in the advertisementsystem, i.e., parameters set by the advertiser and an advertisementservice provider. The computer program can be arranged to provide theadvertiser with selectable parameters, such as characteristics of usersprofiles, and upon selection, the program would cause this advertiser'sadvertisements to be associated with RO's being delivered only to usershave the selected parameter(s).

As shown in FIG. 4, the computer program may be arranged to receive anRO request from the rights object issuer server at 42, check a customerdatabase to obtain a profile or characteristics of the user making therequest for an RO at 44, check a database of advertisers for anavailable advertiser, e.g., one willing to sponsor delivery of therequested content, select an advertisement from a database provided byor on behalf of the advertiser at 48 and then deliver the RO and theselected, associated advertisement to the user at 50. Thereafter, one ormore of the database can be updated to reflect the delivery of an ROwith the particular advertisement to the user at 52. Updating thedatabase(s) can be designed to ensure that the user receives differentadvertisements when the use the same content, whether from the same ordifferent advertisers.

As shown in FIG. 5, when selecting an advertisement at 48, anarrangement and method in accordance with some embodiments of theinvention can be designed to enable advertisers to target theiradvertisements to users having specific profiles or characteristics,provided profile or characteristic information about users of thedevices is available. To this end, the computer program may be arrangedto check a database of advertisers to identify an advertiser who wantsto target an advertisement to users having characteristics or a userprofile of the user currently requesting an RO, at 54. At 56, theprogram then checks the advertiser's balance (the advertiser having anadvertising account including a cash balance with the advertisementsystem) to ascertain whether there are sufficient funds to cover acharge for associating the advertisement with an RO, which charge may beset by the entity operating or managing the advertisement delivery orsponsorship arrangement. If so, at 58, a billing system associated withthe arrangement debits the advertiser's balance for the charge fordelivery of the RO to the user.

Each advertiser's balance may be set as desired and managed by theadvertiser's desire to pay for delivery of advertisements to the users.It is foreseen that the advertisers can also be provided with means tomanage the advertisements in the databases thereof.

With respect to the charge imposed by the entity operating or managingthe advertisement delivery or sponsorship arrangement in accordance withthe invention, in an exemplifying embodiment, each charge may only be aportion of the total delivery costs so that the entire delivery cost isspread out or distributed over multiple advertisements (either bydifferent advertisers or the same advertiser). Specifically, the entiredelivery cost can be apportioned to a plurality of advertisements whichare provided with a respective plurality of RO's which enable the userto use the same downloaded content. In this manner, if theadvertisements are provided by different advertisers, no singleadvertiser is responsible for the entire delivery cost of the contentbut rather each is responsible for and covers only a portion of thedelivery cost. Alternatively, the charge is not required to be directlyrelated to the number of advertisers or the delivery cost and thus, thecharges paid by a cumulative amount of sponsors can be larger than thedelivery cost.

The portion of the delivery cost each advertiser pays may depend on, forexample, the number of advertisements being associated with the RO'sand/or the order in which the advertisements are provided. In the lattercase, it is conceivable that the advertisement sent with the first RO isapportioned a larger percentage of the total delivery cost than anadvertisement sent with a subsequent RO to enable the user to view thesame content.

As an example of the manner for apportioning the delivery cost, assumingthe entire delivery cost is 2ε and that an advertiser is only willing topay 0.3ε per exposure of the advertisement to a user, or even morespecifically, to a target user. In this regard, an advertiser may beprovided with an opportunity to pay one fee per exposure of theadvertisement to any user and another, likely higher fee per exposure toa targeted user.

As described above, there is a database of advertisements forassociation with RO's being provided to users to enable the users to usedownloaded content. As the content is delivered to the user's mobileterminal for the first time, a first advertisement is selected from thedatabase and associated with the first RO being directed to the user.Upon receipt of the RO, the user is able to initially use the downloadedcontent. This generates 0.3ε of revenues. The billing system connectedto the advertisement system is arranged to document the delivery of theadvertisement to the user and arrange for payment of the 0.3ε from theadvertiser who has thus sponsored a portion of the delivery cost of thecontent.

Every time the user subsequently wants to access or use the samecontent, the user's mobile terminal is programmed to request a new ROfrom the rights object portal if the RO is not valid, which has anassociated advertisement. The advertiser(s) of each advertisementassociated with each new RO is noted by the billing system and paymentof 0.3ε for each advertisement is arranged.

In this manner, since each advertisement associated with a respective ROenables use of specific downloaded content requires payment of 0.3ε fromthe advertiser, the entire delivery cost of 2ε for the content iscovered after the user uses the same content for the 7th time(7×0.3ε=2.1ε>2.0ε). Of course, since the delivery cost and the chargefor associating an advertisement with an RO may vary, it may requirethat the user use the downloaded content more or less than seven timesto cover the entire delivery cost of the content.

After the entire delivery cost for the content is covered or recouped,the content can be made advertisement-free (i.e., new RO's are providedwithout any associated advertisements or an RO is provided which allowsfor unrestricted use of the content) or the arrangement can continueassociating advertisements with new RO's every time the content issought to be used by the user. In the latter case, a residual stream ofadvertising revenue is obtained.

The advertisement delivery and sponsorship arrangement can be arrangedto vary the price of each advertisement being associated with an RObased on the viewing or usage time of the content. For example, theprice can be higher for the first time the user uses the content sinceit is likely that the content, once downloaded, will be used at leastonce. The price can also be higher for content which is used severaltimes since this is indicative that the user likes the content and paysattention to it.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the mobile terminal 16 in accordance with theinvention can be any type of known device which interacts with its user,whether by displaying picture or video files via a screen 60 withpossible audio output via one or more speakers 62 or by playing audiofiles via one or more speakers 62. Mobile terminal 16, to be capable ofthe above-described uses in the invention, would include a processingunit 64 coupled to the screen 60 and speaker(s) 62, and a communicationsunit 66 arranged to receive content in a form requiring a rights object(RO) to enable use thereof and receive an RO having an associatedadvertisement. Instead of the screen 60 and speaker(s) 62, another formof a content-play unit arranged to provide the content to a user of thedevice in an audio form and/or video form can be provided.

The processing unit 64 of the mobile terminal 16 may also includeelectronic circuitry, e.g., hardware and/or software, which serves as anRO management unit arranged to check the presence and validity of an ROin the mobile terminal 16 and direct the communications unit 66 torequest a new RO if there are no valid RO's in the mobile terminal 16. Amemory component can also be included in or connected to the processingunit 64 of the mobile terminal 16 and connected to the RO managementunit and store RO's and content. When the communications unit 66 isarranged to access a content portal to enable content to be requested,the RO management unit of the processing unit 64 can be arranged todetermine whether requested content requires an RO and if so, direct thecommunications unit 66 to request a new RO or a plurality of RO's.Instead of a communications unit, content-play unit and RO managementunit, other electronic componentry can be used, whether implemented ashardware alone, software alone or a combination of both hardware andsoftware.

The foregoing enables innovate mobile marketing and advertising. This isimportant because such a concept is considered by advertisers as thenext new channel to directly reach consumers since it utilizes coreassets and characteristics of the mobile media, namely, it is personalin that it is directed solely to individual consumers, it is “always on”and can reach the consumers whenever they access their communicationsdevices, it is mobile and naturally forms groups of people whocommunicate actively with each other. These characteristics combinedwith social networks-based approaches of the Internet could form a verypowerful base to execute marketing strategies.

In general, mobile marketing and advertising can be divided into thefollowing four categories: mobile marketing, mobile advertising, mobiledirect marketing and mobile customer relation management (CRM). Thepresent invention in any of its forms discussed above is applicable toall categories.

Mobile marketing is commonly considered as the systematic planning,implementing and control of a mix of business activities intended tobring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchangeor transfer of products or services where the primary point of contactwith the consumer is via their mobile device.

Mobile advertising is commonly considered as the paid, public,non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identifiedsponsor as well as the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firmof its products to its existing and potential customers where suchcommunication is delivered to a mobile phone or other mobile device.Examples of mobile advertising include: Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) Banner ads, mobile search advertising, mobile video bumpers, andinterstitial ads in or on device portals.

Mobile direct marketing is commonly considered a sales and promotiontechnique in which promotional materials are delivered individually topotential customers via the potential customer's mobile phone or othermobile device. Examples of mobile direct marketing include the sendingof Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS) orWireless Application Protocol (WAP) push messages, Bluetooth messagingand other marketing to mobile phones or other mobile devices.

Mobile customer relation management is commonly considered as acombination of all the foregoing in a manner that establishes along-term, engaging relationship between the customer and the marketingor promoting company.

In the context of this document, computer-readable medium could be anymeans that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transmit aprogram for use by or in connection with the method, system, apparatusor device. The computer-readable medium can be, but is not limited to(not an exhaustive list), electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semi-conductor propagation medium. Themedium can also be (not an exhaustive list) an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable, programmable,read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and aportable compact disk read-only memory (CDROM). The medium can also bepaper or other suitable medium upon which a program is printed, as theprogram can be electronically captured, via for example, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, orotherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory. Also, a computer program or data may betransferred to another computer-readable medium by any suitable processsuch as by scanning the computer-readable medium.

Referring now to FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C, the invention can also utilize aDRM arrangement wherein users can distribute the content directly toother users without using any specific communication network. This isreferred to as super distribution. Thus, in one embodiment of theinvention, content, RO's and related advertisements can be obtained byone mobile terminal and thereafter distributed from that mobile terminalto another mobile terminal enabling a super distribution type ofarrangement.

As shown in FIG. 7A, one embodiment of such a method includes deliveringthe same content to the devices in a form requiring a RO to enable usethereof 68, delivering the RO to a first device 70, using for exampleany of the techniques described above, and enabling the first device tocommunicate with one or more other devices without use of acommunications network to provide each of those devices with the RO forthe content 72. The first device and the other devices that received thecontent and RO can thus play the content 74.

With reference to FIG. 7B, applying an advertising sponsorship techniquedescribed above, the content is delivered to the devices 76 and anadvertisement is associated with each RO and the RO with associatedadvertisement is delivered to the first device 78. The first devicedirectly communicates with the other devices and provides the RO andassociated advertisement 80. As such, when the user of any device usesthe content, the user is exposed to the advertisement 82 that came withthe RO for that content and thereafter can play the content 84.

For this type of arrangement, the content is not required to bedelivered to each of the users in the manner described above, e.g.,directly from a content portal. Rather, as shown in FIG. 7C, it ispossible that only the user of the first device receives the content 86and an RO and associated advertisement 88. The first device directlycommunicates with the other devices and provides the content, RO andassociated advertisement 90. As such, when the user of any device usesthe content, the user is exposed to the advertisement 92 that came withthe RO for that content and thereafter can play the content 94.

The method provides an efficient way to distribute advertisementswithout use of a communications network but rather relying on directcommunications between user's devices.

Having described exemplary embodiments of the invention with referenceto the accompanying drawings, it will be appreciated that the presentinvention is not limited to those embodiments, and that various changesand modifications can be effected therein by one of ordinary skill inthe art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention asdefined by the appended claims. For example, while the presentapplication is discussed above in connection with mobile multimediadevices, it is not intended to be limited to such devices and is equallyapplicable to any multimedia device capable of communicating over theinternet, a telephone network, or any communications network. Forexample, in addition to downloading the content from one or morededicated content portals, the content can be delivered from severalservers and peer-to-peer type networks. In addition, in connection withthe super distribution type of arrangement, while it is described thatthe same content is provided to the first device and the one or moredevices, it is foreseen that different content can be provided to thefirst device and the one or more devices. In this situation, the RO isof a more general type (e.g. for all songs of a particular music groupas opposed to a specific song by that music group) which would enabledifferent users to access different content (different songs by the samemusical group) with the same RO. Further, it is also foreseen that eachof the content and advertisement provided to the one or more otherdevices may be delivered from the first device or from the contentportal, or other source. It is also foreseen that the advertisement maybe delivered to the device with the content, with the RO, or separatelyfrom the delivery of the content and RO, but the advertisement ispreferably associated with at least one of the content and the RO beingdelivered to the device.

1. An arrangement for providing content to multimedia devices,comprising: a content portal for providing content to the devices, thecontent being provided in a form requiring a rights object (RO) toenable use thereof; a rights object portal for providing RO's to thedevices; and an advertisement system arranged to associate anadvertisement with each RO being provided by said rights object portal,whereby upon receipt of the RO with the associated advertisement, theuser is exposed to the advertisement in conjunction with use of thecontent.
 2. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said advertisementsystem is arranged to enable advertisers to deliver advertisements to adatabase of advertisements managed by said advertisement system.
 3. Thearrangement of claim 1, wherein said advertisement system is arranged tomaintain databases containing user profiles and enable advertisers todetermine profiles of users to which their advertisements are to bedelivered.
 4. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the content and ROwith associated advertisement are provided to the devices via at leastone communications network.
 5. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein saidadvertisement system is arranged to include an advertisement in the RO.6. The arrangement of claim 1, further comprising a billing systemcoupled to said advertisement system for arranging for payment of theadvertisements and the content.
 7. The arrangement of claim 1, whereinsaid advertisement system comprises a mobile marketing server operatedor managed by or on behalf of advertisers.
 8. The arrangement of claim1, wherein said rights object portal is arranged to generate RO's whichenable the user to use the content only once such that each time theuser wants to use the same content, the user is required to obtain a newRO.
 9. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said advertisement system isarranged to associate a plurality of advertisements each with arespective RO and deliver all of the RO's with associated advertisementsto each device.
 10. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the multimediadevices are portable mobile terminals.
 11. A method for providingcontent to multimedia devices, comprising: delivering content to adevice in a form requiring a rights objects (RO) to enable use thereof;associating an advertisement with each RO; and delivering the RO withassociated advertisement to the device, whereby upon receipt of an ROwith associated advertisement, a user of the device is exposed to theadvertisement in conjunction with use of the content.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: obtaining profile or characteristicinformation about users of the devices; and enabling advertisers totarget their advertisements to users having specific profiles orcharacteristics.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:maintaining a balance set by each advertiser to pay for delivery ofadvertisements to the devices; and prior to associating an advertisementfrom an advertiser with an RO, ascertaining whether the advertiser hasavailable funds and only if so, associating an advertisement from thatadvertiser with an RO and then debiting a charge for delivery of theadvertisement from the advertiser's balance.
 14. The method of claim 11,further comprising: generating a request for an RO whenever the userwants to use the content; checking whether the content is sponsored byone or more advertisers and if so, obtaining an advertisement from oneof these advertisers; and checking whether the user is authorized toreceive an RO and if so, associating the obtained advertisement with anRO to be delivered to the device.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein asingle RO is delivered to the user each time a request is made to usethe content such that each time the user wants to use the same content,they require delivery of a new RO.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein aplurality of RO's are delivered to the user such that each time arequest is made to use the content, the device is arranged to checkwhether an RO is available therein.
 17. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: metering usage of a communications network used to deliverthe content and RO; metering usage for content being delivered to eachdevice; and arranging for payment from users based on their usage of thecommunications network and their delivered content.
 18. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the RO is delivered separate from the content.
 19. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the step of delivering content comprisesenabling the user to access a content portal which provides access todifferent content and select which content the user wants to havedelivered.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: notifying amobile marketing server after the user has selected content to bedelivered if the content is determined to be sponsored; obtaining theadvertisement from the mobile marketing server; and then generating anRO having the obtained advertisement associated therewith and deliveringthis RO and associated advertisement to the device.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, further comprising: providing information about the user tothe mobile marketing server; and determining which advertisement toassociate with the RO based on the information about the user.
 22. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising exposing the user to theadvertisement before enabling use of the content via the RO.
 23. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: whenever the user seeks to usethe content, verifying the presence of an RO for the content and itsvalidity in the device; generating a request in the device for a new ROif the device does not have a valid RO for the content; receiving thenew RO with associated advertisement; and exposing the user to theadvertisement, whereby the user is able to use the content afterexposure to the advertisement received with the new RO.
 24. The methodof claim 11, further comprising: forming a database containing whichadvertisements have been delivered to the users; and using the databaseto determine which advertisements to direct to each user.
 25. The methodof claim 11, further comprising regulating the cost to each advertiserfor associating an advertisement with an RO.
 26. The method of claim 25,wherein the regulating step comprises assigning a charge for associatingan advertisement with an RO for specific content which is only a portionof the entire delivery cost for the specific content such that multipleuses of the same content are required to cover or recoup the entiredelivery cost.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the charge is a fixedcharge.
 28. The method of claim 26, wherein the charge is a variablecharge which is varied based on usage of the content.
 29. The method ofclaim 26, further comprising enabling the user to use the specificcontent without exposure to advertisements once the delivery cost iscovered or recouped.
 30. The method of claim 11, wherein the multimediadevices are portable mobile terminals.
 31. A method for sponsoringcontent delivery to multimedia devices, comprising: delivering contentto the devices in a form requiring a rights objects (RO) to enable usethereof; assigning a charge for associating an advertisement with an ROfor specific content which is only a portion of an entire delivery costfor the specific content; providing access to a plurality of differentadvertisements; and whenever a request for an RO for content is made bya user of a device, associating one of the advertisements with an RO anddelivering the RO with associated advertisement to the device, wherebyupon receipt of an RO with associated advertisement, the user is exposedto the advertisement in conjunction with use of the content.
 32. Themethod of claim 31, further comprising: obtaining profile orcharacteristic information about users of the devices; and enablingadvertisers to target their advertisements to users having specificprofiles or characteristics.
 33. The method of claim 31, furthercomprising: maintaining a balance set by each advertiser to pay fordelivery of advertisements to the devices; and prior to associating anadvertisement from an advertiser with an RO, ascertaining whether theadvertiser has available funds and only if so, associating anadvertisement from that advertiser with an RO and then debiting a chargefor delivery of the advertisement from the advertiser's balance.
 34. Themethod of claim 31, further comprising checking whether the user isauthorized to receive an RO and only if so, associating the obtainedadvertisement with an RO to be delivered to the user's device.
 35. Themethod of claim 31, wherein a single RO is delivered to the user eachtime a request is made to use the content such that each time the userwants to use the same content, they require delivery of a new RO. 36.The method of claim 31, wherein a plurality of RO's are delivered to theuser such that each time a request is made to use the content, thedevice is arranged to check whether an RO is available therein.
 38. Themethod of claim 31, wherein the step of delivering content comprisesenabling the user to access a content portal which provides access todifferent content and selecting which content the user wants to havedelivered.
 39. The method of claim 31, further comprising exposing theuser to the advertisement before enabling use of the content via the RO.40. The method of claim 31, further comprising: forming a databasecontaining which advertisements have been delivered to the users; andusing the database to enable different advertisements to be directed toeach user.
 41. The method of claim 31, wherein the charge is a fixedcharge.
 42. The method of claim 31, wherein the charge is a variablecharge which is varied based on usage of the content.
 43. The method ofclaim 31, further comprising enabling the user to use the specificcontent without exposure to advertisements once the delivery cost iscovered or recouped.
 44. The method of claim 31, wherein the multimediadevices are portable mobile terminals.
 45. An arrangement for providingcontent to multimedia devices, comprising: means for delivering contentto a device in a form requiring a rights object (RO) to enable usethereof; means for associating an advertisement with an RO; and meansfor delivering the RO with associated advertisement to the device,whereby upon receipt of an RO with associated advertisement, a user ofthe device is exposed to the advertisement in conjunction with use ofthe content.
 46. The arrangement of claim 45, further comprising: meansfor obtaining profile or characteristic information about users of thedevices; and means for enabling advertisers to target theiradvertisements to users having specific profiles or characteristics. 47.The arrangement of claim 45, further comprising: means for generating arequest for an RO whenever the user wants to use content; means forchecking whether the content is sponsored by one or more advertisers andif so, obtaining an advertisement from one of these advertisers; andmeans for checking whether the user is authorized to receive an RO andif so, associating the obtained advertisement with an RO to be deliveredto the device.
 48. The arrangement of claim 45, further comprising:means for metering usage of a communications network used to deliver thecontent and RO's; means for metering usage for content being deliveredto each device; and means for arranging for payment from users based ontheir usage of the communications network and their delivered content.49. The arrangement of claim 45, further comprising means for forming adatabase containing which advertisements have been delivered to theusers, the database being accessed to enable different advertisements tobe directed to each user.
 50. The arrangement of claim 45, furthercomprising means for regulating the cost to each advertiser forassociating an advertisement with an RO.
 51. The arrangement of claim50, wherein the regulating means are arranged to assign a charge forassociating an advertisement with an RO for specific content which isonly a portion of the entire delivery cost for the specific content suchthat multiple uses of the same content are required to cover or recoupthe entire delivery cost.
 52. The arrangement of claim 51, wherein thecharge is fixed or varied based on usage of the content.
 53. Thearrangement of claim 45, wherein the multimedia devices are portablemobile terminals.
 54. A computer program resident on computer-readablemedia and arranged to manage delivery of content to multimedia devicesby establishing communications between a content portal having thecontent in a form requiring a rights object (RO) to enable use thereof,a rights objects portal having RO's, and a mobile marketing serverhaving a database of advertisement; and associating an advertisementfrom said mobile marketing server with an RO from said rights objectsportal upon request for specific content from said content portal, anddeliver the RO and associated advertisement to one of the devices suchthat upon receipt of the RO with associated advertisement, a user of thedevice is exposed to the advertisement in conjunction with use of thecontent.
 55. The computer program of claim 54, wherein said program isfurther arranged to maintain databases containing user profiles,interface with advertisers to determine profiles of users to which theiradvertisements are to be delivered, and control which advertisements areprovided by said mobile marketing server and delivered to the users ofthe devices to provide that the users to which advertisements from eachadvertiser are directed have a determined user profile for thatadvertiser.
 56. The computer program of claim 54, wherein said programis further arranged to establish communications with or maintain abilling system which monitors which advertisements from whichadvertisers are delivered and controls payment from advertisers fordelivered advertisements.
 57. The computer program of claim 54, whereinsaid program is further arranged to monitor requests from devices forcontent from said content portal and provide content with an RO andassociated advertisement only when the content is sponsored.
 58. Thecomputer program of claim 54, wherein said program is further arrangedto direct said rights objects portal to provide an RO which allows theuser to use the content only a single time such that each time the usersubsequently wants to use the same content, the user is required toobtain a new RO from said rights objects portal, or to provide aplurality of RO's at a single time such that the user can use thecontent multiple times without requiring a new RO from said rightsobjects portal.
 59. The computer program of claim 54, wherein saidprogram is further arranged to meter usage of a communications networkused to deliver the content and RO to the devices, meter usage forcontent being delivered to each device, and arrange payment form usersbased on their usage of the communications network and their deliveredcontent.
 60. The computer program of claim 54, wherein said program isfurther arranged to provide a user of each of the devices with apossibility of selecting from multiple content from said content portaland coordinate delivery of the selected content to the user's device.61. The computer program of claim 54, wherein said program is furtherarranged to form and manage a database containing which advertisementshave been delivered to the users and access the database to enabledifferent advertisements to be directed to each user.
 62. The computerprogram of claim 54, wherein said computer program is further arrangedto regulate a cost to each advertiser for associating an advertisementwith an RO.
 63. The computer program of claim 62, wherein the regulationbeing performed by said program includes assigning a charge forassociating an advertisement with an RO for specific content which isonly a portion of the entire delivery cost for the specific content suchthat multiple uses of the same content are required to cover or recoupthe entire delivery cost.
 64. The computer program of claim 54, whereinthe multimedia devices are portable mobile terminals.
 65. A multimediadevice, comprising: means for receiving content in a form requiring arights object (RO) to enable use thereof; and means for receiving an ROhaving an associated advertisement; and whereby upon receipt of an ROwith associated advertisement, a user of the device is exposed to theadvertisement in conjunction with use of the content.
 66. The device ofclaim 65, wherein the device is a mobile terminal.
 67. The device ofclaim 65, further comprising means for checking presence and validity ofan RO in the device and requesting a new RO if there is not a valid ROin the device.
 68. The device of claim 65, further comprising: means foraccessing a content portal to enable content to be requested; and meansfor determining whether requested content requires an RO and if so,requesting an RO from a rights objects portal.
 69. A multimedia device,comprising: a communications unit arranged to receive content in a formrequiring a rights object (RO) to enable use thereof and receive an ROhaving an associated advertisement; and a content-play unit arranged toprovide the content to a user of the device in an audio form or videoform, whereby upon receipt of content and an RO with associatedadvertisement via said communications unit, a user of the device isexposed to the advertisement via said content-play unit in conjunctionwith use of the content.
 70. The device of claim 69, wherein the deviceis a mobile terminal.
 71. The device of claim 69, further comprising anRO management unit arranged to check presence and validity of an RO inthe device and direct said communications unit to request a new RO ifthere is not a valid RO in the device.
 72. The device of claim 69,wherein said communications unit is arranged to access a content portalto enable content to be requested, further comprising an RO managementunit arranged to determine whether requested content requires an RO andif so, direct said communications unit to request a new RO.
 73. A methodfor distributing rights objects to multimedia devices, comprising:delivering content to a first one of the devices in a form requiring arights object (RO) to enable use thereof; delivering the RO to the firstdevice; providing content to at least one other device; and enabling thefirst device to communicate with the at least one other device toprovide the at least one other device with the RO for the contentprovided thereto.
 74. The method of claim 73, further comprising:associating an advertisement with the RO; and delivering the RO with theassociated advertisement to the first device, the first devicecommunicating with the at least one other device to provide the at leastone other device with the RO for the content and associatedadvertisement; whereby the user of each device is exposed to theadvertisement when accessing the content.
 75. The method of claim 73,wherein the step of providing the content to the at least one otherdevice comprises delivering the content from the first device to the atleast one other device.
 76. The method of claim 73, wherein the step ofproviding content to the at least one other device comprises delivery ofthe content to the at least one other device from a source other thanthe first device.
 77. The method of claim 73, wherein the step ofproviding content to the at least one other device comprises deliveringthe content with an associated advertisement to the at least one otherdevice.
 78. The method of claim 73, wherein the step of providing the ROto the at least one other device comprises delivering the RO with anassociated advertisement to the at least one other device.
 79. Themethod of claim 73, further comprising the step of delivering anadvertisement to the at least one other device which is associated withat least one of the content and the RO.
 80. The method of claim 79,wherein the step of delivering an advertisement to the at least oneother device comprises delivering the advertisement with the content,with the RO, or separately from delivery of the content and RO.
 81. Themethod of claim 73, wherein the step of enabling the first device tocommunicate with the at least one other device occurs without use of acommunications network.
 82. The method of claim 73, wherein upon receiptof the RO by the first one of the devices, the user of the first one ofthe devices is able to use the content delivered thereto, and whereinupon receipt of the RO by the at least one other device, the user of theat least one other device is able to use the content provided thereto.83. The method of claim 73, wherein the content provided to the at leastone other device is the same content delivered to the first one of thedevices.
 84. The method of claim 73, wherein the content provided to theat least one other device is different from the content delivered to thefirst one of the devices.